Lock for sliding doors.



J. DAVIS.

LOOK FOR SLIDING nouns.

' APPLICATION FILED MAR. 7, 1912.

Patented Jan. 21, 1918.

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JOSEPH DAVIS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

LOOK FOR- SLIDING DOORS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 21,1913.

App1ication filed March 7, 1912. Serial No. 682,135.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOSEPH DAVIS, a citizenof the United States, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Locks for Sliding Doors; and I do hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference markedthereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to looks for sliding doors, and it includesimproved features of construction, some of which are applicableespecially to looks for sliding doors of freight cars, and others ofwhich are adapted for use in connection with locks for sliding doors ofother kinds.

The invention consists of the matters hereinafter described and pointedout in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawingsFigure 1 is a view in front elevation of alock embodying my invention with parts in section, showing the parts inlocked position; Fig. 2 is an end view of the same; Fig. 8 is a planview of the lock; Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the lock, showing thelook latch at the moment of its release from its elevated position inwhich it is set for unlocking.

As shown in said drawings, A indicates the forward part of a sliding cardoor and B, a part of the car wall, forming the jamb of the door towardwhich the forward edge of the door is moved in closing the same. Asshown, the outer face of the door is substantially flush with the part Bof the car wall.

A indicates a handle on the door to be grasped in moving or sliding thesame.

C indicates a horizontally arranged, vertically swinging locking latchwhich is pivoted at one end to the car door A, by a pivot bolt 0,located at some distance from the forward edge of the door. Said pivotbolt is so located that the free end of the locking latch projectsbeyond the said forward edge of the door, and is adapted to. swing in avertical plane. On the swinging end of the locking latch is formed alaterally and downwardly extending plate or looking lug C, giving to theswinging end of the looking latch, in effect, the form of a hook. Aguide-plate D is attached to the door near its front edge, saidguide-plate being provided with a guide-slot, arranged in a verticalplane, and through which the locking latch extends, the said slot beinglong enough to permit the necessary degree of vertical or swingingmovement in the for ward end of the locking latch.

A keeper or staple member is attached to the wall B, the same consistingof a baseplate E and a horizontally arranged loop member or staple Ewhich extends forwardly or outwardly from the base-plate and is adaptedto receive the lug C, which latter is adapted for insertion through saidstaple by the downward swinging move ment of the locking latch when thedoor is fully closed, and to be disengaged from the staple member by thelifting of said locking latch. The part or arm 6 of the staple locatednearest the door or at the inner side of said staple, is provided withan oblique guide-plate or flange E which is inclined downwardly andlaterally therefrom, and is adapted to effect the lifting of the lockinglatch when the lower end of the lug C thereofstrikes the saidguide-plate, in the closing movement of the door. As shown, the saidguide-plate E is secured at its inner edge to, or formed integral withthe base-plate E and projects outwardly or forwardly from the latter.The staple member is provided, at the opposite or outer side of thestaple E, with a vertically arranged plate E which extends above andbelow the staple, and is made integral with the base-member E of saidstaple. Said plate E is so arranged that the lug C of the locking latchwill be adjacent to and substantially parallel therewith, when said lugC is resting within or is in locking engagement with said staple. Thelug C is provided in its lower part with a hole 0 and the plate E isprovided with a like hole 6 The holes 0 and c are so arranged that theywill be in line, or register with, each other, when the lug C is fullyinserted within the staple. This construction enables the lock to beeasily sealed; as for instance, by a sealing strip F, inserted throughthe holes 0 and e, so that the locking latch cannot be lifted todisengage it from the staple, without breaking said sealing strip.

G is a swinging dog or detent, having the form of a bell-crank lever,which is mounted on a pivot 9 located below the locking latch and nearthe forward edge of the door. The upwardly extending arm G of saiddetent G constitutes a detent arm when in one position to engage andhold in its elevated position, the locking latch C, and when shiftedfrom such position to be released from the locking latch, so that thelatter will fall to its position for engagement with the staple. Theupper end of said detent arm G enters a recess formed in a casing orhousing C on the front face of the latch C; said recess extendinglongitudinally of the latch and opening downwardly. The said recess ismade much deeper in its forward than in its rear part, so as to form adeep forward pocket a and a shallower rear pocket 0 The pocket 0 is deepenough to receive the upper end of the arm G of the detent- G, when thesaid arm G is swung forwardly or toward the edge of the door and thelocking latch is in its depressed or locking position, as seen inFig. 1. The rear or shallow pocket 0 is formed to provide a downwardlyfacing abutment or shoulder 0 adapted for contact with the upper end ofsaid arm G when the latter is swung rearwardly, in a manner to hold thelocking latch in its elevated position, as seen in dotted lines inFig. 1. The shoulder c is recessed or made concave so that the end ofthe arm G cannot be moved or swung forwardly from said shoulder awithout slightly lifting the latch.

- The arm G of the detent G extends horizontally from the pivot 9towardthe forward edge of the door, and is provided at its end with anupwardly extending cam tooth or V-shaped projection 9 Said tooth g is soarranged as to strike or come in contact with the lower horizontal edgeof a tripping member E formed on the staple member, when the dog ismoved horizontally in opening the door. As shown, the tripping member Eforms a downward extension of the guide-plate E but it may have the formof a separate projection on the staple member. The tooth g is soarranged and located that, when the door is fully closed and the lockinglatch in. its locked position, said tooth will stand outside of andextend above the lower edge of the tripping member E as shown by dottedlines in Fig. 1, so that, in the opening movement of the door, the loweredge of the tripping member will act on the tooth to depress thehorizontal arm G of the dog and swing the upper end of the upright arm Gaway from the shoulder 0 If, therefore, when the door is closed, thelocking latch be lifted and the arm G of the dog be placed beneath theshoulder a to hold said latch in its lifted position, or set the samefor unlocking, as the door is moved to open the same, the contact of thetooth g with the tripping member will have the effect of.

swinging the dog so as to release the arm G from the shoulder a",whereupon the latch, being no longer supported in its elevated position,will descend; but will not become locked, because the movement of thedoor will have carried the lug C inwardly away from the opening of thestaple, and the said lug may strike and slide away from the guide-plateE or, if the door is opened quickly enough, will fall free of saidguideplate. The upper end of the arm G, as the locking latch falls,enters the pocket 0 of the recess in the locking latch, and the lookinglatch will then be left in readiness to again engage the staple memberwhen the door is next closed.

The locking latch C is shown as provided with a forwardly projecting lugH forming a finger piece or hand-hold, by which it may be easily lifted.

In the operation of the locking device, when the door is closed andlocked, and it is desired to open the same, the locking latch is firstlifted, and the dog swung or moved by the hand so as to bring its arm Gbeneath the shoulder 0 when said latch will be set in its unlockedposition, or with its hooked end or flange C above and free from thestaple E. The door may be then opened, and as it is slid backwardly, theaction of the lower edge of the guide-plate on the tooth of the arm Gwill swing the dog in a direction to release the locking latch, so thatwhen the door is again closed, said latch will be free to becomeinterlocked with the staple member, in the usual manner. In my improvedlock, therefore, the locking latch comes automatically into lookingengagement with the staple when the door is cl-osed, the locking latchmay be set in its unlocked position before the door is opened, and saidlatch will be released by the act of opening the door, so as to be inreadiness for automatic locking when the door is again closed.

An important advantage is ained by the use of the device described inconnection with locks for freight car doors. Such doors are usually highabove the ground and require considerable force to move them, and it isnecessary that both hands should be used in opening the same. If onehand were used to lift the locking latch and the other to slide thedoor, the opening of the door would be diflicult and troublesome, but bythe use of the device described, the looking latch may be set in itsunlocked position before any attempt is made to open the door, and bothhands may be thus used in sliding back the same. As the locking latch isantomatically released in the act of opening the door, no attention needbe given to the lock at the time of closing the door.

I have shown in the accompanying drawings one practical form of lock orlooking device embodying the several features of my invention, but asthe details of the same may be variously modified in practice, I do notdesire to be limited to the exact features of construction illustratedand described, except so far as specified in the appended claims.

I claim as my invent-ion:

1. A sliding door lock, comprising a pivoted, vertically swinginglocking latch, provided at its swinging end with a locking lug, a staplemember provided with an aperture adapted to receive said locking lug, aninclined guide plate for said locking latch acting to lift said latch inthe movement of the same toward the staple member, means adapted toengage the locking latch for temporarily holding the same free fromengagement with the aperture, and a tripping member adapted to act onsaid means to trip the same and release the locking latch in the openingmovement of the door.

2. A sliding door lock, comprising a pivoted locking latch provided onits swinging end with a locking lug, a pivoted detent, provided with adetent arm adapted to engage the locking latch to hold the latter in itsdisengaged position, and with an actuating arm provided wit-h a camprojection; and a staple member provided with a staple adapted toreceive said locking lug, and with a tripping member, adapted to act onthe said cam projection to trip the detent and release the locking latchin the opening movement of the door.

3. A sliding door lock comprising a pivoted locking latch provided onits swinging end with a locking lug, an oscillating detent lever,provided with an upwardly extending detent arm and with a horizontal armhaving an upwardly-extending camprojection, said locking latch beingprovided with a shoulder for engagement with the said detent arm, and astaple member provided with a staple adapted to receive said lockinglug, and with a fixed tripping member adapted to act on said camprojection to trip the detent and release the locking latch in theopening movement of the door.

4. A sliding door lock, comprising a pivoted locking latch provided onits swinging end with a locking lug, an oscillating detent leverprovided with an upwardly extending detent arm, and with a horizontalcam arm provided with an upwardly extending cam' projection, saidlocking latch being provided with a downwardly opening, horizontalrecess adapted to receive the upper end of the detent arm, and in saidrecess with a downwardly facing shoulder for engagement with said detentarm, and a staple member provided with a staple adapted to receive thesaid locking lug, and with a tripping member adapted to act on the saidcam projection.

5. A sliding door lock, comprising a pivoted locking latch provided onits swinging end with a locking lug, an oscillating detent leverprovided with an upwardly extending detent arm, and with a horizontalcam arm provided with a cam projection, said locking arm being providedwith a detent shoulder for engagement with said detent arm in oneposition of the detent lever, and a staple member provided with a stapleadapted to receive said locking lug, and with an inclined guide-platefor the locking latch, the lower edge of which is located in position toact on thesaid cam projection in the opening movement of the door.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my invention I afiix mysignature in the presence of two witnesses, this 2nd day of March A. D.1912.

JOSEPH DAVIS.

Witnesses:

GEORGE R. WILKINS, T. H. ALFREDs.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

